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Summary: OF HUMAN BONDAGE
Review: Of Human Bondage is a tale of a boy's coming of maturity and early adulthood. It hits a key concept of life the difference between infatuation and love. In this novel Philp searches for the meaning of his life as well as the nature of love. Maugham does an excellent job displaying that life isn't all about glory but more about the struggles for sucess and meaning.
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Summary: Speaking like Maugham Himself
Review: Sheer pleasure. Maugham's razor-sharp precision and his tell-it-like-it-is style of writing have always impressed and entertained me. I often sought his opionions on human condition and his insight into our nature through reading his books. In The Summing Up, Maugham delivered his bservations on writing and writers in his eloquent and unpretentious style. I was totally entertained, as he had always made me feel.
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Summary: The artist is the only free man.
Review: Somerset Maugham sums up his vision on mankind, the English, morals and art (theatre, the novel). It is a penetrating and very modern view. The best book I have read from him.
It shows that he had a very profound scientific and philosophical background.His stance on determinism, chance and free will was based on his philosophical and scientific readings (Hume and Heisenberg's Principle of Indeterminacy).
The same can be said of his view on mankind, which was highly influenced by Darwin and Schopenhauer: 'The essence of man is his egoism that we all inherit from that remote energy which in the unplumbed past first set the ball rolling'; or 'So long as some are strong and some are weak, the weak will be driven to the wall'. Having read a lot of philosophy, he was upset by the low standard of the philosophy of his days, which dodged for him fundamental problems, like evil (war). The author has sometimes been characterized as cynical (e.g. for his best novel 'Of human bondage'). He shows his cynicism again in this book: on the English, 'They are not an amorous race. They are of course sufficiently sexual for the purpose of reproducing their species, but they cannot control the instinctive feeling that the sexual act is disgusting.'
Or his virulent atheism: 'God is not so reasonable. He promises rewards to those who believe in him and threatens with horrible punishment those who do not. For my part I cannot believe in a God who is angry with me because I do not believe in him'. His analysis of the writer (not one but many men), the novel and theatre is highly modern. It could easily be applied on TV plays today. This is a sincere, still topical and highly recommendable book.
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Summary: What a Pleasure!
Review: This audio presentation of 'The Summing Up' was masterfully presented by Charlton Griffin. I have read several of Maugham's works and consequently found the content of this book very enlightening. I thoroughly enjoyed Griffin's calming voice, with a subtle touch of Maugham's native British accent. At times, I felt as though I was sitting in an English pub with Maugham himself, listening while he talked of his life, philosophy and writings. I would highly recommend this recorded piece of literature, especially to other W. S. Maugham enthusiasts like myself.
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Summary: Don't make this the first Maugham book you read....
Review: This book was this author's last: because of that, it makes a lot more sense to read it after you are familiar with a smattering of his other works. I love Maugham and have since I first read 'Of Human Bondage' in high school. This book is a wonderful end-of-life explanation of what he thought of his work. How many authors would acclaim themselves among the 'first rank of the second best' or slander avant-guarde theater in praise of production of plays that people wanted to see for storyline (outside of smug cleverness...) This is a definate must-read for anyone who falls in love with this author BUT I'd not make this the first book you read by him in any way. I kind of feel as if without having read a ton of his other books, I would have not looked at this one with such reverence.....
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Summary: Don't make this the first Maugham book you read....
Review: This book was this author's last: because of that, it makes a lot more sense to read it after you are familiar with a smattering of his other works. I love Maugham and have since I first read 'Of Human Bondage' in high school. This book is a wonderful end-of-life explanation of what he thought of his work. How many authors would acclaim themselves among the 'first rank of the second best' or slander avant-guarde theater in praise of production of plays that people wanted to see for storyline (outside of smug cleverness...) This is a definate must-read for anyone who falls in love with this author BUT I'd not make this the first book you read by him in any way. I kind of feel as if without having read a ton of his other books, I would have not looked at this one with such reverence.....
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Summary: a conversation with a cultured friend
Review: This is much more a rambling collection of random thought that occassionally organizes around a subject such as theatre or philosophy and then moves on. Reading it is like sharing a conversation over a brandy with a congenial and intellegient old friend. For fans of Maugham this is an enjoyable read which provides insight into how much of his personal experience is reflected in his works such as Of Human Bondage and Moon and Sixpence. While not necessarily agreeing with him on every point that he makes ,I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation and would deem him a person well worth knowing. Like all his works ,this is extraordinarily well written and lucid. If you are unfamiliar with his novels or short stories or are looking to try reading him for the first time I would recommend starting elsewhere. This requires some experience with his work to be fully appreciated.
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